Sunday, July 28, 2013

This Summer has been a tough time for the major studios, with lots of big budget movies bombing at the box office, along with a few surprises. Here's a round-up of the coolest movie billboards lining the skies of L.A. in July.

Movie billboards

This month Marvel's clawed mutant, The Wolverine, returned to the skies of the City of Angels with the same Japanese style creative that had teased the movie in April and May. Even though I love this imagery, I found it odd that with this second wave of ad support didn't at least feature an actual Hugh Jackman creative.

The movie itself is entertaining with a real James Bond/Bourne Identity feel to it, in no doubt helped by its Japanese setting which helped differentiate it from previous X-Men offerings. Plus the absence of unnecessary X-Men universe cameos made this feel like much more of a solo Wolverine movie outing. Although saying that, the thing that got the most cheers from the audience was the end credits sequence featuring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart reprising their roles as best frenemies, 'Magneto' and 'Professor X', and teasing Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014.

I've also showcased a whole host of Man of Steel movie billboards at my Daily Billboard blog, but when I spied this Superman symbol version over at Warner Bros. Studios this month I couldn't help but share it, especially as now we know the 'S' doesn't simply stand for Superman, but is his Kryptonian family's sigil and a symbol of hope.

Although am I the only one slightly concerned over the further darkening of the DC cinematic universe by the announcement of the Superman and Batman movie.

This month I saw Pacific Rim and even though I had low expectations that this would just be another robots beating up monsters movie (or another Transformers travesty), I was actually pleasantly surprised.

The Hong Kong setting makes for a novel change, one it will probably appeal to broader international market (especially the Japanese market with their fascination with their post-atomic Godzilla-like creatures), plus it's refreshing not to have America save the day in every Hollywood film you see. For me this global flavour was a welcome ingredient, the fantastic costume design and the sci-fi elements, like the mind-merging of two pilots to operate the gigantic robot 'Jaegers', also made this a winner for me.
Speaking of science fiction, after 2009's District 9, Neill Blomkamp's Elysium is the movie I'm most looking forward to next month. The writer/director's original aesthetic and approach, plus the political class war plot of the haves and the have-nots on and above a future Earth is really appealing.

Meanwhile my most disappointing visit to the cinema came this month when I went to see R.I.P.D. (Rest in Peace Department). Bewitched by Ryan Reynolds once again, I can't tell you how much of a snooze-fest this comic book adaptation is and a blatant rip-off of Men in Black, with the undead replacing aliens in hiding.

For me there is no surprise this movie tanked, especially as it foolishly opened the weekend of San Diego Comic-Con, when a vast majority of comic geeks and aficionados were attending the event and being distracted by news of far more exciting projects. Long may this potential movie franchise rest in peace.

I have to say I wasn't surprised in the least by Disney's The Lone Ranger remakeflopping. I'm not a huge fan of Westerns (and apparently neither are millions of cinema goers) and I totally believe the studio's over reliance on Johnny Depp is a real mistake, especially when he plays similar quirky characters over and over again. Plus stop casting him with the same people all the time - yes, I'm talking about the likes of you Helena Bonham-Carter.

Replacing the giant Lone Ranger billboard was this fun fancy for Disney's new computer-animated Planes movie, which is a spin-off from their successful Cars movie franchise.

Speaking of movies aimed at kids, even though I'm certain I won't be going to see The Smurfs sequel, I do like this fun billboard for the movie.

And for much more grownup humour, there's We're The Millers on the way, which stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis (plus the boy who played the irritating 'Eustace Scrubb' in The Chronicles of Narnara: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Will Poulter, plus the boyfriend-beating niece of Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts). The comedy is about a guy who puts together a fake family to get a big weed shipment across the U.S./Mexico border.

One of the movies which exceeded expectations this month was supernatural horror, The Conjuring. Just like The Purge, this low budget movie based on the true cases of paranormal investigators The Warrens, has done surprisingly well in a time of year not well known for its horror movies.

Meanwhile next weekend Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington lighten things up with another comic book adaptation in theatres, 2 Guns.

Whilst on paid-for TV, HBO Films debut their latest offering in the form of Clear History, starring the likes of Larry David and Jon Hamm, and these clever billboards are everywhere at the moment.
And on a final note, here's a candy product comeback masquerading as a movie billboard. This advertisement for The Return of Mike and Ike may look like a real movie billboard and actually has its own movie trailer, but I believe it's just part of the marketing strategy behind the brand of fruit-flavoured candies (sweets to us Brits), first introduced in the 1940's. Let's face it, this billboard creative looks far too cheap to be a real movie ad.

And there you have it, a nice eclectic mix of superheroes, sci-fi, cowboys, comedy and horror, all in the space of a month.

Be sure to check out Daily Billboard Blog every day for more eye-catching ads around the streets of L.A., plus come back in the days to come for more round-ups of July's TV, fashion and lifestyle billboards...